Dickensalong 2023 : The Old Curiosity Shop

[Piggywaspushed]

Come along and join me in this year's Dickens readalong.

We have chosen The Old Curiosity Shop which was originally published by Dickens across 88 weeks in his won periodical.

Obviously 88 weeks is a bit much for our modern concentration spans and multitasking minds , so I propose an 8 month read. There are 73 chapters in total, not split into volumes or books (thanks for this Dickens!!) but I found little stars every few chapters so think these indicate breaks:

January - Chapters 1- 8
February - Chapters 9- 16
March - Chapters 17 - 26
April - Chapters 27 - 36
May - Chapters 37 - 45
June - Chapters 46-53
July - Chapters 54 - 63
August - 64 - end

I hope that's all OK. It's not as long as some of the others we have done so 8 instalments seems to work.

All welcome - old curiosities, and new!

I must read David Copperfield some time. I think I'd like it.

I love it. It's been my favourite readalong.

Ah! Pity I missed it!

Hello! What chapters are we reading for June? I must get onto it quickly.

May is 37-45 and then June is 46-53!

Thanks, Piggy! May, not June, I should have said! Getting beyond myself :)

I did wonder if there was something very specific about June that needed rigorous planning!

I think it's more my inability to keep track of the schedule 😅

Morning!

I'm not really sure if if have any deep insights this month! I did enjoy the light diversion of Barbara getting continually offended by the oblivious Kit praising Nelly to the heavens. I clearly wasn't concentrating (as ever!) and am not sure who Barbara is and where she appeared from. The lack of a Shmoop on TOCS isn't helping...

Otherwise, the whole affair is becoming like a prolonged edition of C4's 'Hunted' with Nelly and her (increasingly irritatingly needy!) grandad seemingly unable to keep out of the clutches of the hunters. My notes inform me the recent chapter with all tis smoke and filth and poverty is the Black Country (which makes sense) so they have got a long way only to bump into the kind old school master.

I think Dickens is now overdoing all the different types they meet on route and so it is becoming repetitive. They walk a bit, meet someone dodgy, get on some mode of transport, Nell long suffers, grandad sulks or sleeps, Nell sleeps. Nell worries. Off they go again.

This section did feel a bit as if Dickens wasn’t quite sure where he was going with the story. It was nice having some chapters with different characters rather than just following Nell and Grandad, but like you Piggy I wasn’t sure who Barbara was either.

The last couple of chapters were really depressing. That awful furnace and then knocking on the doors of houses only to find all those dead children and other tales of woe.

Hopefully Nell and Grandad end up somewhere nice soon - they’ve got no food or money and are either old or ill so surely can’t survive much longer.

Morning!

I think there wasn't too much to note either in this section. Finally, some plot advancement by way of the single gentleman who is searching in a very determined fashion for Nell and Grandfather.

I liked the account of Kit's and Barbara's day off. Barbara is the kitchen maid at the cottage. We met her briefly at the end of the last section. (I always think that Barbara is a relatively modern American name and was surprised to see it here).

Yes, it is getting repetitive at this stage. I think the title of the book is a misnomer as the shop only features at the beginning of the story. They seem to have been on the road for ages. Piggy's description of the plot is a good summation. Poor Little Nell though. Will she ever be able to take it easy. I'm pinning my hopes on the single gentleman to rescue her from this misery.

Yes I was expecting the book to be much more shop-based Fuzzy!

I did quite like this section, and was getting pretty agitated at Nell’s grandfather for forcing her away from the relative safe haven of Mrs Jarley’s waxworks and into the burning hell of Birmingham (and presumably scuppering the chances of the single gentleman and Kit’s mother finding them). I think what’s to come is being pretty heavily foreshadowed, especially by the reappearance of the schoolmaster - not going to go into my thoughts on this in case spoilers.

Kit winkling his mother out of the evangelical church made me laugh:
‘Stay, Satan, stay!’ roared the preacher again. ‘Tempt not the woman that doth incline her ear to thee, but harken to the voice of him that calleth. He hath a lamb from the fold!’ cried the preacher, raising his voice still higher and pointing to the baby. ‘He beareth off a lamb, a precious lamb! He goeth about, like a wolf in the night season, and inveigleth the tender lambs!’
Kit was the best-tempered fellow in the world, but considering this strong language, and being somewhat excited by the circumstances in which he was placed, he faced round to the pulpit with the baby in his arms, and replied aloud, ‘No, I don’t. He’s my brother.’
‘He’s my brother!’ cried the preacher.
‘He isn’t,’ said Kit indignantly…

Oh yes, that was good. Dickens had no truck with religious hypocrisy. Lived that passage.

I'm glad the chapters were fairly short this month as I didn't find them as engaging. Nell and grandad aren't as entertaining as the London characters and agree that it was a bit depressing in places. I hope the next section makes for better reading.

I also liked the rebuffal of the Holy Man.
Good for Kit!

Oops, totally forgot it was the 1st. I must say I’m finding myself much more interested in Kit and all the hurly-burly of his mother and Barbara and the nice old couple and the mysterious stranger, than I am in saintly Nell and her tiresome old grandfather. I suspect I’d have been tempted to shove him into the canal if it'd been me, but then I’m clearly a bad person.

Dickens is at his least convincing when he's indulging in sentimentality, imho, and for me he's so pious over Nell that I just can’t take him seriously. I did find the writing about the industrial town quite interesting, though. Apparently Dickens had visited Birmingham and Wolverhampton the year before and been very struck by the blighted townscapes he saw.

@Terpsichore bad person or not your comment gave me a much needed laugh right now!

I think that a little bit of light relief is needed when reading Dickens :)

Nell and Little Dorrit have merged as a single character in my mind. Little Nell.

I'm still here, trailing behind. Finally caught up with you once again!

How very bizarre that Nell and her irresponsible grandfather should cover so much ground only to bump into the old schoolmaster. What on earth is he doing there?!?

Oh and your comments lead me to believe that you think the single gentleman wants to find Nell to save her. I had assumed he was another person to whom the grandfather is in debt....

I really think Little Nell needs rescuing at this stage @nowanearlyNicemum and I've decided it must be the single gentleman (you could be right, of course!)

I am also wondering why the schoolmaster is on a hike in that part of the world. All will be revealed in the next part, I'm sure.

Just checking that we should have read Chapters 46-53 for the coming discussion @Piggywaspushed !

I’ll be late to the discussion - I had overlooked this so haven’t read my chapters yet (bad me) and I’m going away for the weekend so won’t have chance to catch up for a few days.

Yep 46- 53!

I'm ready!